anyone have the numbers how the e90 did when it was first introduced and compared to the last year of the e46?

Okay, got ahold of the BMW investor reports from back around the time of the E90 transition, below is the relevant information.

Summarized, BMW had a staggered launch of the E90 where it was available in Europe prior to the US by a period of 3 months and they used to break out Sedan vs. other styles which they don't do anymore, so the data is a bit dicey to interpret. Big picture, the E90 saw dips in sales vs. the E46 for the first 6-12 months of its life. The Coupes and Convertibles particularly were hit hard once the Sedan launched. For the first three periods BMW reported the E90 on which are somewhat congruent to the first two periods BMW reported the F30 on, the E90 dipped 3 Series sales (19%) and (11%) then (3%) below E46 levels.

2005 Quarterly Report (June 2005) E90 is 1 month old (worldwide):

The new model of the BMW 3 Series Sedan
has been particularly well received on the market.
Since market introduction in March 2005 (Europe),
April 2005 (Asia) and May 2005 (USA), 69,385 units
had been sold to customers by the end of June –
more than a third of the total unit sales of the
BMW 3 Series during the period. Including sales of
the predecessor model, 127,951 units of the BMW 3
Series Sedan were sold during the first half of 2005,
6.1% more than in the corresponding period last
year. As expected, the sales volume of the BMW 3
Series has fallen in connection with the model
change; 195,693 units were sold during the first
half of 2005, (19.1)% fewer than in the corresponding
period last year.
The new BMW 3 Series Touring model will be
introduced onto the markets from September 2005
onwards. 27,465 units (–33.4%) of the present
model were sold during the first half of 2005.
In addition, 17,642 (– 45.5%) BMW 3 Series
Coupé and 17,900 (–28.7%) BMW 3 Series Convertible
were delivered to customers between January
and June 2005.

2005 Quarterly Report (September 2005) E90 is 5 months old:

The sales volume of the BMW 3 Series declined
overall as a result of the model change. 311,324 units
were sold in the period from January to September
2005 (–10.9 %). The first new 3 Series model is
the BMW 3 Series Sedan, which was introduced
onto the market in March 2005; 148,818 units had
already been delivered to customers by the end
of September 2005. For the nine-month period,
the sales volume of the BMW 3 Series Sedan and
its predecessor model totalled 215,032 units, an
increase of 20.4% compared to the previous year.
Favourable customer acceptance of the new BMW
3 Series Sedan is also reflected in the sales volume
figures for this model in the third quarter 2005:
87,078 units were delivered to customers, 50.0%
more than in the same quarter last year. The new
BMW 3 SeriesTouring came onto the market in September
2005. The total sales volume of the BMW
3 Series Touring in the first three quarters of 2005
was 39,329 units (–33.7%). In the same period,25,425 units of the BMW 3 Series Coupé (–45.3%)
and 25,987 units of the BMW 3 Series Convertible
(–22.3%) were sold

2005 Annual Report (Dec 2005) E90 is 8 months old:

Despite the BMW 3 Series Sedan model change,
the BMW 3 Series remains the world's best-selling
model series in the segment for premium middle
class cars; 434,342 units of the BMW 3 Series were
delivered to customers in 2005 (– 3.4%). The new
BMW 3 Series Sedan is the best-selling car of the
BMW Group: having sold 229,932 units since its market
launch in March 2005, it accounted for 17.3%
of the total sales volume of the BMW Group in 2005.

2006 First Quarter Report (March 2006) E90 is 10 months old:

122,691 BMW 3 Series vehicles were delivered
to customers worldwide in the period from January
to March 2006, 54.3% more than in the previous
year. This strong growth was attributable to particularly
strong demand for the BMW 3 Series Sedan
and for the BMW 3 Series Touring following the
model change. Both models were introduced to the
markets during the course of 2005 and are now
available to customers worldwide. 84,739 BMW 3
Series Sedans (+88.2%) and 26,096 BMW 3 Series
Touring cars (+72.2%) were sold during the first
quarter 2006, of which 954 and 943 respectively
were predecessor models. During the same period,
5,785 BMW 3 Series Coupés (–33.4%) and 5,951
BMW 3 Series Convertibles (–19.4%) were delivered
to customers.

2006 Second Quarter Report (June 2006) E90 is 13 months old:

In April, international automotive journalists
voted the BMW 3 Series as the "World Car of the
Year". The popularity of the 3 Series is also reflected
in the sales volume achieved: 254,338 units were
sold during the six-month period, giving a particularly
strong growth rate of 30.0%. More than
400,000 units of the BMW 3 Series Sedan have been
delivered to customers since the model change in
spring 2005. The sales volume for the first half of
2006 was 175,141 units, 36.9% more than one year
earlier. During the same period, 53,728 BMW 3
Series Touring (introduced in September 2005) were
handed over to customers, representing a 95.6%
increase over the previous year. The sales volume
figures for the BMW 3 Series Coupé and of the
BMW 3 Series Convertible were lower than in the
previous year as a result of life-cycle factors. 11,401
units of the BMW 3 Series Coupé were sold, (35.4)%
fewer than in the same period last year. The BMW 3
Series Coupé model change will take place in September
2006. With 13,838 units sold, the sales volume
of the BMW 3 Series Convertible was (22.7)%
lower than one year earlier

=========================================

2012 Quarterly Report (March 2012) F30 is 1 month old:

The BMW 3 Series also performed well,
with the market launch of the new Sedan in February
(+ 13.6 %) already having a positive impact. In total,91,189 units of the BMW 3 Series were handed over to
customers during the quarter under report (+ 3.9 %).

2012 Quarterly Report (June 2012) F30 is 4 months old:

Sales of the BMW 3 Series,
at 193,989 units, were slightly up on the previous year
(+ 0.6 %). The four-wheel-drive system (xDrive) for the
Sedan as well as the launches of the new Touring and extended
wheelbase version for China will also revitalise
demand in the second half of the year.